South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, is set to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in late April. It will be the first inter-Korean summit in 11 years. / Graphic by Cho Sang-won

By Kim Bo-eunLeaders of North and South Korea are set to meet, 11 years since the last inter-Korean summit in 2007.In April, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet for the first time. It will be Kim's first meeting with a foreign head of state.During the past seven years of his rule, Kim has hardly engaged in diplomacy _ he only met with delegates of states with friendly relations with North Korea, such as Cuba and China. The meetings all took place in Pyongyang _ Kim has not traveled abroad for diplomacy.Kim and South Korean envoys to Pyongyang agreed last week for a summit to be held in late April.It was Kim's first meeting with South Korean officials since he took power following the death of his father, former leader Kim Jong-il, in December 2011.The third inter-Korean summit in April will take place on the South's side of the truce village of Panmunjeom, 250 meters south of the Military Demarcation Line.It will be the first time for a North Korean leader to set foot on South Korean territory.

South Korean counterpart Kim Dae-jung, right, arrives at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, where North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, left, greets him ahead of an inter-Korean summit, on June 13, 2000. / Yonhap

First and second summitsThe Koreas became divided after the end of World War II, with the Soviet Union stationed in the North and the U.S. in the South and separate communist and anti-communist governments were established. The subsequent 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, leaving the Koreas still technically at war, and the North and South remain separated by the Demilitarized Zone.Working-level discussions for an inter-Korean summit began in the 1980s. Following the end of the Cold War, North Korea's first leader Kim Il-sung proposed hosting a top-level summit in 1990. Then-South Korean President Kim Young-sam echoed the proposal, and high-level meetings were held over eight occasions. The plan for a summit, however, fell through after the North Korean leader passed away in 1994. After South Korean President Kim Dae-jung took office in 1998, he pledged to implement an inter-Korean agreement on peace and unification reached in 1991, and proposed a summit.The first summit since Korea became divided took place in Pyongyang on June 13, 2000, between Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il, son of Kim Il-sung. The three-day summit produced an agreement for the Koreas to pursue unification through their own efforts, to enable reunifications of family members separated by the Korean War and allow inter-Korean exchanges to take place.Kim Dae-jung became the first Korean to receive the Nobel Peace Prize the same year, for his efforts to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula.The second summit took place between Kim Jong-il and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in Pyongyang, Oct. 2 to 4, 2007.The agreement reached at the summit stated the Koreas transcend ideological differences and seek mutual respect and trust, and will work together to put an end to hostile relations and establish lasting peaceful relations. The North and South also agreed to cooperate for balanced economic development and co-prosperity, as well as promote social and cultural exchanges.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, left, raises his glass for a toast with Kim Jong-il during an inter-Korean summit on Oct. 4, 2007. / Korea Times file

Third summitMoon's policy toward North Korea, which supports engagement and reconciliation, is known to follow the Sunshine Policy of the Kim and Roh administrations.Moon's Berlin initiative _ a peace overture unveiled in a speech in the city last July _ resembles the Berlin declaration of Kim that came months before the first inter-Korean summit in 2000.Moon served as presidential chief of staff to Roh, and is credited to have contributed to the hosting of the 2007 summit and six-party talks for denuclearization.Moon is seen to have pushed for a summit to take place in the early years of his term to enable greater dialogue to take place.Holding an inter-Korean summit within the first year of his term was one of Moon's election pledges when he ran for president in 2012.The summit held under the Roh administration came toward the end of his term, which left little time to implement agreements reached between the leaders.This resulted in the developments reached in inter-Korean relations to be scrapped when the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration launched in 2008. The scheduled third summit will take place in less than a year since Moon took office last May. The agreement for the summit was reached after a single meeting between Kim Jong-un and South Korean National Security Council chief Chung Eui-yong and National Intelligence Service director Suh Hoon on March 5. The meeting took place after Kim Jong-un's younger sister Kim Yo-jong invited Moon for talks in Pyongyang during her visit to the South for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. She became the first member of the Kim dynasty to set foot in the South.Cheong Wa Dae said South Korean envoys proposed several locations for the summit including Pyongyang and Panmunjeom, and that it was North Korea's decision to hold the meeting in the South's side of the truce village. The decision is seen to be in consideration of the previous two summits being held in Pyongyang.Holding the summit at Panmunjeom will be meaningful in that the backdrop symbolizes a divided Korea.While the first two summits focused more on inter-Korean affairs, the third summit is set to address the issue of the North's denuclearization, ahead of Washington-Pyongyang talks slated for May.In the meeting between Kim and South Korean officials, North Korea also stated willingness to denuclearize, as well as hold a dialogue with the U.S. on the matter. U.S. President Donald Trump accepted Kim's invitation to talks last week.Inter-Korean relations have made progress in the New Year, after a year of heightened tension on the peninsula due to the North's nuclear and missile provocations.A period of detente began unfolding after Kim Jong-un expressed willingness for the North to take part in the Olympic and Paralympic Games hosted in the South. Pyongyang's participation in the PyeongChang Games was decided after South Korea and the U.S. agreed to delay their joint military drills until after the sporting events.